iOS Interpreter milestone
After only a couple extra weeks of work (and non-work -- oh, PAX, you great distraction) I am declaring my iOS IF interpreter ready for beta-testing.
Again, this is not Hadean Lands. The first game I will distribute this way will be The Dreamhold, a tutorial IF game. It will be a free download. (Really, The Dreamhold is already a free download -- you can play it on my web site or in iPhone Frotz. I will be packaging it as a standalone IF app with my new interpreter code.)
As I said, I'm doing this for buzz, and to get feedback on the UI design. But as a bonus, this release of The Dreamhold will contain a brand-new dynamic map. I figure that mobile IF players don't want to draw their own maps. (I mapped all the IF I played when I was a kid... stacks of scrap paper all over the computer room. When you're standing on the subway in rush hour, it's not so simple.) So the game will track your progress, and fill in a map for you as you play.
I hope testing won't run too long, and The Dreamhold will be out by the end of April. (I know, last update I said "early April". Turns out that was wrong.)
So, what else have I been working on? I do have some excuse other than hanging out with other indie developers at PAX.
A couple of weeks ago, I buckled down and wrote RemGlk, a JSON-based IF display library. I've been meaning to write this since 2008 -- it was supposed to be the flip side of GlkOte.
Here's the one-paragraph pitch: RemGlk attaches to an IF interpreter engine (written in C), and translates its output into Javascript data. (JSON, technically.) GlkOte is a Javascript IF display library: it takes IF output in Javascript form, and puts it up on the screen as windows and input lines and things. If you stick the interpreter and RemGlk onto your web server, and then hand GlkOte to the web browser, you've got a fully functional IF web app.
Now, I haven't actually built this web app. I wrote RemGlk to work with Floyd, a MUD bot we've got running on IFMud. Floyd runs our weekly ClubFloyd IF sessions, but he's never been able to present a complete IF interface. The status line would get lost, text styles wouldn't be visible, that sort of thing. Now (after a heroic integration effort by MUD host vimes), Floyd understands RemGlk's Javascript output, and all is much happier.
(Except for that annoying text buffer bug, which I promise I will fix as soon as Dreamhold is out the door.)
In other news, I've upgraded Meanwhile to support the new iPad and its stupidly high-resolution display. If you own the app, I'm sure you've already updated. (Really, take a look on your new iPad, or your best friend's new iPad, or any new iPad you can get your hands on. The display is nice. If you zoom Meanwhile all the way out... you can't quite read the tiny text across the entire story map. But you feel like you almost can.)
My contract-work board-game project has also shipped: Fealty for iOS. (App store link here.) Chris "Asmadi" Cieslik got to show it off at PAX, and he says it's selling nicely. If you like a small strategic territory-control game for iPhone and iPad, check it out. It's sweet.
(Except for that annoying Game Center invite bug... which I'm pretty sure is Game Center acting strange. At least, other iOS board-game app developers have complained about it. We are investigating and will have some sort of patch out soon. Sorry about the hassle.)
That, I believe, is all the announcement I've got this month. Hadean Lands, as ever, continues to progress in its own way.
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Nov 1, 2010 -
Dec 6, 2010
- First created · 5 backed
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- Website: eblong.com
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119 backers
Hadean Lands for iPhone. A $5 value! (If I ever port to Android or Kindle or any other mobile platform, you can have those versions too, for free.)
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33 backers
Hadean Lands collectible postcard! With bonus IF quick reference on back. (And also the game for iPhone, plus any mobile ports.)
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358 backers
Hadean Lands Limited Edition: shipped on a rune-inscribed CD. Playable on Mac/PC/Linux. This will *only* be available through Kickstarter. (Plus the game for iPhone, and the postcard.)
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73 backers
Hadean Lands full-page, full-color map poster! This map will be part of the game docs, but this poster will be larger and prettier. (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.) (Belated note: the poster will be added to all rewards $50 and larger.)
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Your name will appear in Hadean Lands, in some form, as an ancient alchemist or sage or spell-rubric. ("The Sulphuric Dragon of Andricus Plotinus", that kind of thing.) (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
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You will have access to the closed beta-testing phase of the game. Early access! Opportunity to offer feedback! (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
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42 backers
You will be credited in the game as a Hero of the Calcination. (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
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27 backers
You will receive the source code of the game, for your edification and amusement, as a printed volume. (Plus special credit as Hero of the Dissolution, and the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
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A mystical alchemical calligraphical formula of ancient (made-up) lore, hand-written on (freshly-made) ancient paper. With incomprehensible mystical symbols! (Plus special credit as Hero of the Coagulation, and the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
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The traditional Kickstarter "I'll fly out to visit you and bake you cookies!" offer. (Continental US only please.) We can hang out and talk about IF, or play the game together, or go out for Peruvian -- whatever's agreeable. Plus all of the above.
Comments
Creator Bryan Gough on May 24, 2012
Well, I wish I was playing Hadean Lands.... Because Praser 5 is driving me crazy.
Creator Andrew Plotkin on May 11, 2012
No, that will be exclusive to the iOS release. (The map-drawing code is iOS graphics code rather than Glulx VM graphics.)
It's mostly there to compensate for the lack of paper and pencil. When I designed the game originally, I assumed that everybody loves to draw their own maps -- or if you don't, you ought to learn. :)
Creator Paul Zagieboylo on May 7, 2012
Is the automapping version of Dreamhold available for anything other than iOS?
Creator Andrew Plotkin on April 27, 2012
I am happy that the projects you support are doing well.
Yes, the app will support the most current version of iOS. That's easy. The hard part is to keep supporting the versions of iOS that were current when I started! (3.1.3, so it works on original iPhones.) I believe this works but it is not fully tested.
Creator Bryan Gough on April 26, 2012
For those of us not at github:
"Again, this is not Hadean Lands."
Funny, that's the title I remember supporting... 16 months ago. Actually, it was the first KS project I ever backed. It's the only one that updates with news specifically NOT about the title project (other than to say, "nothing to report").
I've supported 13 projects since. 10 have delivered their project rewards. 3 are still works in progress (films and a book). But, the updates reveal pretty impressive progress, so morale is high for those projects.
Hopefully, the rewards will be compatible with the most current iOS version(s) that have been developed and released since the funding of this project.
Creator tor gausen on April 20, 2012
It's easy to see from your activity at github you're really not spending your time at the beaches of Cuba. May you live to write a million lines!